IS596 IT in Emerging Countries Olayele Adelakun (Ph.D) Assistant Professor CTI Office: Room 735 CTI 7th Floor Phone: Fax: Web:

Agenda  Expectation?  Course Overview  Areas of Interest  Lecture Notes

Expectations? 1. Reasons to study IT in Emerging Country 2. What would you like to get out of this course.

Agenda Expectations?  Course Overview  Areas of Interest  Lecture Notes

Course Overview Objective Topics Course Materials Assignments

Objectives A better understanding of the IT challenges facing organizations in emerging countries A better understanding of issues involved in building a success global software team. Students will have a practical exposure to the reality of information technology (IT) in an emerging/- developing country (Brazil). A visit to Rio

Topics Information Technology Impact on Transnational Firms Global Software Teams  Crossing Borders Assessment of Global Software Teams  Problems of Global Software Teams Solutions to the Global Software Teams Problems  Telecommunications Infrastructure  Development Methodology  Architecture and Task Allocation  Building the Dispersed Team through Trust, Communication, and Personal Bridges  Specialized Management Techniques Offshore IT Outsourcing

Course Materials Case studies  HBS Cases 1. Submarino.com: The Challenges of B2C Commerce in Latin America. Case PSA: The world’s Port of Call. Case  Other supporting documents 1. Readiness for the Networked World: A guide for Developing Countries by Center for International Development at Harvard University. Readiness for the Networked World

Grading Individual Assignments10% Class Attendance and Participation30% Group Assignment20% Paper25% Group Presentation15% Total100%

Group Assignment About 3-5 Students per group  Analyze one category of the readiness guide.  No single category may be selected by two groups  Deliverables include Group contribution to the class web site Presentation of readiness for ICT (only one category per group)

Question

Agenda Expectations? Course Overview  Areas of Interest  Lecture Notes

Reference Discipline Political Science Economics Law Management International business Human computer Interface Cross cultural studies Law Sociology Psychology Telecommunications Computer Science

Globalization A definition:  As increased permeability of traditional boundaries such as nations, time and space (Parker, 1998)

GLOBAL IT ISSUES Issues of Interest  To what extent does the growing power of information technology enable globalization?  To what extent does increased globalization create demand and markets for ever more refined information technology?  Do the new technologies enable firms to consider new markets and new activities?  Do the desires of firms for international activities create demand for new technologies?  Are uses for information technology in a global setting merely the logical extension of domestic information technologies?  Does operating internationally create new areas of decision making such as the structure for direct foreign investment  (Iyer, 1988)?

IT in Emerging Countries Area of Interest  National or Country level  Multinational firms (IT vendors and non-IT vendors)  Local vs. global issues  Groups and teams  Individual

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Global IS Issues  At the National level Social and cultural issues at the country level Economics Technology sophistication at the country level IT policy and legal issues

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Global IS Issues  At the organizational level Issues involving matching global IS strategy with global business strategy Issues on the technical platform for Global IS applications Issues involved in International data sharing Issues of global IS projects

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Global IS Issues  At the group level level Global software teams co-ordination Global project management Distance and time differences Cultural issues

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Complexity in Understanding Global IS  Global IS is an extremely broad topic.  There are numerous potential stakeholders.  Global IS can be addressed from the perspectives of (1) national governments, (2) economic regions (e.g. EU), (3) multinational and domestic firms, (4) firms building vs. using IS technology, (5) IS (or other) departments within firms, (6) labor markets within countries, and (7) consumers. (8) different business processes across boarders

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Based on detailed interviews with IS executives charged with managing international IS, Ives and Jarvenpaa (1991) outline four aspects of global IS: 1. Matching global IS strategy to global business strategy; 2. Issues involving the technical platform for global IS applications 3. Issues involved in international sharing of data; and 4. Issues of IS projects spanning cultures.

IT Issues in Emerging Countries Other ways to study IT in Emerging Countries 1. The impact of information on people of different cultures; 2. The differences in information sought and used by people of different cultures (and the strategies and approaches to decision making and other task performance by people of different cultures); and 3. The mechanisms for developing information systems to be developed and/or used by people of different cultures. For example to what extent do design methodologies used in France, Germany, Japan, or India account for specific cultural values, Can lessons learned in these countries enrich design methodologies used in Canada or the U.S.? 4. Diffusion of IS in developing countries

Agenda Expectations? Course Overview Areas of Interest  Lecture Notes

Globalization and Information Systems Forces Driving IT in Emerging Countries  Demand for new global consumer  New global business customer  Global outsourcing  Global product R&D  Internal development  Individual development

Globalization and Information Systems Transnational Corporations  The traditional organizational form is changing to one that is both integrated and more similar to a network organizational structure. This new form is labeled transnational corporation. Globally efficient Strong locally Big and small at the same time IT is central to the success of its operations IT is part of the corporate strategy

Globalization and Information Systems Global demand  The global customer Demand for global services and products (hotel, airline, etc.)  Global sourcing and integration of the supply chain Products are being assembled from multiple sources and information systems are used to coordinate the logistics  Global product R&D and shorter product cycle Global design (e.g. ford CAD)  Harmonization and standardization of report requirements Account Global strategy  Economy of Scale

Globalization and Information Systems Implication of Globalization on IS department  IS department need to be global as well  Integrated Network in which global systems maintenance and development efforts are increasingly shared across boarders  This means that responsibilities are shared globally.

Globalization and Information Systems Implication of Globalization for the IS function  The Integrated Network IS Organization  Development of global applications that support global processes rather than local or regional processes.  A shift away from geographical or national boundaries Decentralized IS unit operates independently

Globalization and Information Systems Corporate Structure SystemsIS Development CentralizedCentralized databases and processes driven by headquarters Headquarters centralized development and decision making DecentralizedStandalone, largely independent Independent at each subsidiary Coordinated FederationLinked databases with some application sharing Some joint development; formalization and standards established Integrated Network (Transnational) Integrated architecture; shared databases and shared global processes Centers for global application

Globalization and Information Systems Characteristics of Integrated Networks  Common global architecture  Powerful telecommunication backbone  Uniform global systems with flexible modules tailored to address systems worldwide  A culture of shared management  A culture of shared application building  A culture of shared innovation

Globalization and Information Systems Characteristics of Integrated Networks  Global IT strategy driven by senior executives  Financial, operations support  Standardization  Architecture, telecom, application, hardware, development process, quality standards etc.  To ease communication between units and partners  Ease of data transfer  Ease of application reuse

Globalization and Information Systems Center for Global Applications  Is a development center that unifies all development work for one or more global application systems  The center are responsible multiple releases of the global applications  The center “own” the global system End-to-end responsibility from requirement and enhancement requests through pilot testing and global roll-out.

Globalization and Information Systems Center for Global Applications  CGA Problems Conflict with local or country manager Business case must be convincing Flexibility Budgets source Creation of a liaison role with the local operation 360 view.

Globalization and Information Systems

Agenda Expectations? Course Overview Areas of Interest Lecture Notes